BABE RUTH BASEBALL: Last-inning rally comes up short for Mercer East 15s

Trentonian File Photo/ JACKIE SCHEAR
Mercer East players Jack Simon, right, and Sam Nazer, left, during a Babe Ruth 15s game earlier this summer. Mercer East lost Sunday in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, bringing its pool play record to 2-2.

ATLANTIC CITY — A second straight late-inning miracle comeback fell short this time for the Mercer East 15-year olders.

That means they’ll sit home today hoping their Babe Ruth all-star career isn’t over — while amazingly they root for archrival Nottingham and South Shore from Staten Island to win their Pool B finales.

If that sounds strange you should have been at Sandcastle Stadium yesterday for the Babe Ruth Middle Atlantic Regional Tournament.

That’s where Mercer East almost pulled out a win that never seemed possible as they lost to South Shore, 12-11, to drop to 2-2 in pool play.

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Hoping to duplicate Saturday’s 14-11 comeback win over Nottingham when they scored 11 runs in the seventh — all with two out — Mercer East came a base hit away from the win when they scored seven runs in the seventh only to leave the tying run at third and the winner at second before South Shore reliever Rory Russell ended the game on a fly out and a grounder to first.

“We have to learn to come out like this in the beginning and not wait until the end,” said Ryan Conlon, who slammed a bases-loaded three-run triple to the fence to highlight the rally. It brought Mercer East back in a game where it was on the verge of losing by the 10-run rule until scoring twice in the sixh.

What this all means is that on the final day of pool play Nottingham and South Shore are 2-1 with one left. North Syracuse, N.Y. and West End of Williamsport, Pa., are 1-2.

Nottingham plays North Syracuse at 4 p.m. at nearby Somers Point and South Shore faces West End here at 10 a.m.

If West End and North Syracuse win all Pool B team finish 2-2 and it comes down to tiebreakers — including head-to-head results and total runs allowed to see what three teams go to Tuesday’s quarterfinal and semifinal playoffs.

“Both teams were tired, and maybe we were a little more tired,” Mercer East manager Bill Wilmer said of his team’s comeback. “Nottingham is good people, so naturally we want them to win because it helps us. So does South Shore winning.”

This has been the most competitive and evenly matched pools in recent regional play, with all five teams feeling they can advance and get to Tuesday night’s title game — probably against host Atlantic Shore, the Southern N.J. 15s champ.

“It’s been such a tight pool, and we played so sloppy in two of our games. You have to come out with your A game and be mentally prepared. Two times we were,” he said, reflecting on losses to North Syracuse and South Shore.

“We came out flat until the sixth inning, and it showed. That’s not baseball,” added Wilmer.

“Absolutely it would be disappointing if we don’t make it,” said Conlon. “After last year as 14s when we were 1-3 we wanted this more than anything.

“When we get baserunners we start to get hit after hit, and we get on the other pitchers head and he starts to worry,” said Conlon. “Then we get more hits, more baserunners, and more runs.”

South Shore had used RBI hits by Jake Buser and Nick Senacore in the first to jump out early on Sam Nagy, added two in the third and five in the fifth when doubled to add three of his five RBI.

Three straight hits off reliever Brian Wilmer left Mercer East behind 12-2 in the sixth and on the brink of 10-run elimination. They escaped that when Jacob Simon got his third hit to drive in a run then scored on an outfield error to get the District 1 champs within eight.

In what looked like a scene from Groundhog Day Mercer East got going after one out with two straight walks, a Wilmer RBI single and Conlon’s three-run triple. Two runs would score on an infield error to get Mercer East to 12-10, but Russell, the third pitcher of the inning, finally closed out the game.

It sent the Mercer East boys back to Hightstown, hoping if they’ll get a chance to return Tuesday and extend their Babe Ruth careers at least another day.